Novartis delivered sales growth (cc), significant margin expansion(cc) and strong innovation in Q1; now with a more focused portfolio

Apr 23, 2015

Basel, April 23, 2015 - Commenting on the results, Joseph Jimenez, CEO of Novartis, said: "Our focus on execution has resulted in a strong operational performance. We have completed the GSK and Lilly transactions and innovation continues to be strong. We had three approvals in Oncology, FDA priority review for LCZ696, Zarxio became the first biosimilar approved under the new pathway in the US and we launched Cosentyx globally. We are on track to deliver our full-year guidance."

1Refers to continuing operations. Continuing operations are defined on page 34 of the Condensed Interim Financial Report. Total Group results include exceptional divestment gains and other operational results of discontinued operations. See page 4. of the Condensed Interim Financial Report. Unless otherwise noted, all growth rates in this Release refer to same period in prior year. 2 Constant currencies (cc), core results and free cash flow are non-IFRS measures. An explanation of non-IFRS measures can be found on page 42 3 Growth Products are defined on page 2 and Emerging Growth Markets on page 6